New album “Hoodoo” out Sept. 17 on Yep Roc

Tony Joe White is set to release his newest album “Hoodoo” on September 17th via Yep Roc Records.

The nine songs that comprise “Hoodoo” come alive in the haunting atmosphere and intensity of the stripped-down recording process. Cut mostly live to tape — vocals and all — much of “Hoodoo” consists of first takes.

“There’s some actual magic that came over all of us when we were doing this,” White recalls. “I would sit down with my drummer Cadillac [Bryan Owings] and my bass player the Troll [Steve Forrest], play twenty seconds of the tune, and then say ‘We’re gonna hit record, and you just play what comes into your heart.’ It’s like everyone is getting the hoodoo sensation. Spontaneity is beautiful. And,” he adds, “since it’s our studio, there’s no hurry: no one is over our shoulder saying when we gotta get in and when we gotta get out.”

“Hoodoo” features autobiographical songs about his life growing up on farm and learning the blues (“9 Foot Sack”), cautionary tales of rural Mississippi (“Alligator, Mississippi”), and a tale of his trek homeward after the Nashville flood of 2010 (“The Flood”).

Despite his illustrious past, White feels no pressure to top himself. “There’s not a push nowhere,” he concludes. “Maybe I’ll stop playing shows and making records when the songs quit coming to me. But they still come to me. You see, I don’t work for a song—but once I get a hold of it I don’t let go. I just keep writing, and when I do, I want to go out and play it for somebody. It’s the songwriting that keeps me going.”